Electrified vehicles commonly require the usage of various vehicle components such as, for example, high voltage (HV) battery systems. HV battery systems for electric and/or hybrid vehicles typically include one or more high voltage batteries to provide the energy required by the drive systems of such vehicles. For vehicle voltage buses, a common divider between low and high voltages is 60V DC or 30V AC. This line typically determines whether the battery is ground to the chassis (i.e., less than 60 VDC) or isolated to float (i.e., greater than 60 VDC). From time to time, vehicle component integrity, such as HV battery pack integrity, may be compromised. Thus, confirming the structural well-being of vehicle components, such as the HV battery system may be desirable. For the HV battery systems, like many vehicle components, it is often difficult to quickly determine the battery integrity.
In view of this technical problem, some vehicular systems include a method to assess the structural integrity of certain vehicle components remotely. For some vehicular systems, the practical solution is to monitor the structural integrity of the outer enclosure or casing of the vehicle component. For example, in certain vehicular systems the structural integrity of the HV battery enclosure or case is monitored to assess the physical state of the battery itself.
One method of assessing the structural integrity of the outer enclosures of vehicle components includes coupling various sensors to the surface of the enclosures and monitoring changes in mechanical pressure, the electrical conductivity or insulation resistance of the enclosure through the sensors. In such systems, the signal from the sensors alerts the vehicular system of a change and the system can shut down the vehicle component.
The drawback of such systems is that the sensors can only send a signal reflecting some kind of change. The placement of sensors alone does not allow the vehicular system to determine the severity of the change and the appropriate response. In certain circumstances, it is not necessary to shut down the entire system or to shut down the vehicle component. However, signals from the various sensors alone do not provide enough information to determine what kind of change is occurring in which location. The embodiments of the present disclosure are provided to solve these and other problems.